<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Bounty Hunter: Volume 1 by cbjango</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28227270">Bounty Hunter: Volume 1</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cbjango/pseuds/cbjango'>cbjango</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Anti-Hero, F/M, M/M, Multi, Original Fiction, Other, Science Fiction, Science Fiction &amp; Fantasy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:54:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,655</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28227270</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cbjango/pseuds/cbjango</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With the inception of the Warp Drive, mankind could finally revive and realize its dream of exploration and adventure. What was once only thought of as fiction and fantasy was now the reality of a new golden age for our species. In the two-and-a-half centuries after, mankind has long since left its small corner of the universe and has scattered itself across the stars discovering all sorts of life. The Terran Federation has become one of several dominant players in the Magellan System, a newcomer and an upstart in the eyes of the other powers and races in the galaxy. While the Federation engages in military skirmishes against alien races such as the Fulmen and the Rankankata, a new class of adventurers have emerged in the lawless worlds of Magellan. A new Wild West has arrived for these ‘bounty hunters,’ adding to the legendary mythos of mankind’s push to explore. Bounty hunters soar the black sky and play among the stars, taking the place of the cowboys and lawmen of old. And as each of these great powers war amongst themselves, this group of spacefaring rogues try to find their own piece of Magellan’s undiscovered treasure and glory to call their own.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bounty Hunter: Volume 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Contract: Vrees Vektors</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Type: Manhunt</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>WANTED: Dead or Alive</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>God, I hate this planet,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Callum thought as he trudged through the muddy streets of Columbia, the only human settlement on Ferrum-3 and like all human settlements it was named after some long-dead explorer from the homeworld. Ferrum-3 was what Callum and most reasonable people would call a ‘shithole;’ most of the dwarf planet’s soil was toxic to plant life, the rain was incessant and made the low-cost dirt roads borderline untravelable, and the binary suns that the Ferrum system orbited around made the planet hotter than an akonite refinery. Most people regardless of species would steer clear of a planet like this if they were to make a settlement, trading depot or a military outpost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But bounty hunters weren’t most people. Columbia, for all its rugged charm, was perfect for the sort of barely-legal activity that people like Callum engaged in on a daily basis. The harsh conditions of Ferrum-3 kept most of the law away and those who actually chose to come to Columbia weren’t exactly the moral, upstanding officers of the law that the Federation boasted of to the Fulmen or Rankankata. The cops here were as much scum as everyone else here; they just denied it. The rest of the population of Columbia were, as previously mentioned, scum who specialized in all sorts of illegal trades. One of those trades was smuggling, possibly the biggest industry within the black market. There was no business done on the black market that didn’t in some way involve smuggling. If Callum was hired to go get some lost treasure from an abandoned alien temple how did he get that treasure to his client? Such treasure was usually heavy or wouldn’t be particularly easy for one man to get out of there. That’s where the smugglers came in. As the name implies, smugglers specialize in getting things from one place to another and their service was invaluable for bounty hunters. Callum was on his way now to see an old acquaintance who was himself a smuggler.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum had finally found the place he was looking for, an out-of-the-way bar several alleyways off the main road. Over the doorway was a hanging scrap metal sign that read “The Drunken Fulmen” with one of the amphibious Fulmen depicted dancing with an old-timey tankard in one long-fingered hand. Callum smirked at the crude sign and slammed his fist on the frame of the steel door, which then slid open. Within the doorway, Callum popped his neck with his two gloved hands as the door behind him closed and a loud hiss of air came from the vents within the interior airlock, draining the entryway of the acidic air from outside the bar and cleansing Callum’s long, hooded clothing. Then, the second door slid open and a wave of smells and sound hit him all at once.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Drunken Fulmen was full tonight, it seemed, with all sorts of unruly patrons filling each booth and table. A ragtag band played music in the far-left corner of the bar; the band consisted of two humans in worn clothing playing an acoustic guitar and a half-built drum set as well as a Kuturusi, an insect-like humanoid with its long spindly arms playing a tune on its leg like a Terran cricket; Callum had never been to the homeworld, but from what he’d been told the Kuturusi closely resembled six-foot-tall crickets that stood on their two back legs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum moved to the bar counter and placed a stack of Federation credits on the counter. “I’ll take a Martian beer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bartender moved over to him and counted up the credits before him before pocketing them and sliding Callum a mug of beer. The bartender began to clean a glass and muttered under his breath, “back table, south side.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum nodded and took a deep drink of his beer before getting up from his barstool to head to the back of the bar (though not before tossing a few extras credits in the bartender’s direction).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the back of the bar in the furthest booth where the table was only illuminated by a dim light bulb sat a skinny human man wrapped in a long thick coat clearly designed to protect its wearer from Ferrum-3’s harsh weather. His face was as thin as the rest of him and his eyes were gaunt with darkened bags around his brown eyes. His hair was dark, cut short, and the grease in it gleamed in the dim light. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum slid quickly into the booth seat opposite of his quarry and pulled his hand cannon out from its holster and trained it on the other man beneath the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum’s swiftness startled the greasy man, making him jolt backwards against his seat with his eyes locked on his captor’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C-Callum! What a surprise -”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum smiled. “Why the surprise, Kenji? What, did you think I’d skipped town?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kenji’s almond-shaped eyes flickered to his right side. “Everyone thought you would. You pissed off Deac-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I piss off a lot of people,” Callum cut in. “And you’re starting to piss me off. Bad idea. So I’ll recommend you a better one. Vrees Vektors. You two still talkin’?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kenji’s right arm left the table to lay at his side. “Not really. Unlike you, he played things smart. Bug bastard left Columbia ‘soon as he caught Deacon’s scent. I really don’t have anything for you -”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Alright, I’m done playing nice.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum’s right thumb fidgeted in irritation as it rested on his index finger, the weight of his pistol heavy in his hand. “I have about as good a nose as Vektors does, Kenji, and ‘lemme let you in on a little secret - it knows bullshit when it smells it. And right now you’re reeking of it. So, this can go one of two ways. One - you tell me where Vrees Vektors is and you leave this bar with 100 more bars than you came in here with. Or -”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A loud bang echoed from beneath the table and a yelp from Kenji as a large black mark was burned into the wall behind him, the laser bolt just barely missing his head by a few inches. A few patrons of the bar jumped in their seats at the sound but otherwise did nothing in response. The cracks and corpses that followed gunshots were an all-too-common occurrence in Columbia and so the regulars at the Drunken Fulmen paid it no mind. In Columbia, everyone minded their own business no matter the circumstance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not one person would be coming to Kenji Nakamura’s aid. Tonight, he was entirely at the mercy of Callum Reiner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your other option,” Callum continued as though nothing had occurred, “is to leave here with a smoking hole where your balls used to be. So tell me - where is Vrees Vektors?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kenji’s face was whiter than snow. “Callum, he’d kill me if I told you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And I’ll kill you if you don’t. Seems we’ve reached an impasse.” Callum sighed. “Well, this was a waste of my time. Say goodbye to your balls, Kenji.” Callum spun the cylinder of his pistol and primed the hammer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“NO!” Kenji screamed, his voice broken. “No, no, no, no, no - I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you, just- Put the gun away! Please!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum smiled. The gun remained on the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kenji was sweating bullets. “Please?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Start talking, Kenji.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s overseeing a mining operation here on Ferrum-3 with some other bugs from Rankarta. They’re, uh, mining akonite in the Oxidda Chain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum’s eyebrows raised. “Akonite? Damn, that shit’s dangerous.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>But mined efficiently… akonite is some of the most expensive shit on the market, white or black. A nearly-infinite, renewable power source when exposed to carbon or a highly radioactive, highly explosive material when exposed to oxygen. Shit’s expensive, hence why all the corporations and governments in Magellan terraform any planet they find it on to mine it. But something doesn’t make sense here.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“How is there still any akonite in Oxidda after Vulcan was done with it? I thought they cleared the whole area out a long time ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kenji shrugged. “That’s what I thought too until I saw the whole thing. But it’s akonite they’re mining, that I know. You can’t mistake it for anything else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If it’s akonite they’re mining, then they have to have some pretty heavy equipment - the type that old rogues like Vrees wouldn’t be able to get his fingers on normally. Who’s backing his crew?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dunno. He never told me. My guess is some corporation who’s paying him off the books. The bug wouldn’t go to any of the Three Powers for help after everything he’s done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yeah, I wouldn’t either if I was him. Bug bastard got caught smuggling illegal weapons by the Rankankata and got thrown out of bug space. That, and his other activities in Magellan are considered terroristic by the Federation and Fulmen. There’s just too much bad blood between him and the Powers. So who what corporation would he turn to? Vlodimir? Maybe Jötun Tech?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum pondered all this new information for a moment before spinning his pistol on his finger and holstering it. The fear that was in Kenji Nakamura’s eyes began to fade away and in its place was a tired concern for his own safety. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re free to go, Kenji,” Callum said before standing up from the table. Kenji remained in the booth unmoving, obviously still wary of Callum’s presence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Callum tossed Kenji a Federation credit. The skinny smuggler looked up at Callum in confusion. “For your cooperation,” Callum explained. “Buy yourself a drink… or, better yet, some new clothes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kenji smirked and raised his hand to call for a waiter to take his order. “How about I drink to your success - and to never working with you again.”</span>
</p><p>Callum smiled, raised his hood, and left the Drunken Fulmen to hunt down his bounty.<br/><br/></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a new project and I am super excited to start working on this. I hope people like this and, as always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms on my works.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>